Lootens Visit!

This past weekend, the Lootens had planned a visit from Springfield.  Originally, they were coming up this weekend because I was supposed to have a baby on Friday morning… but obviously, Audrey was already here, so they just came up to meet her when she was a little older than they’d expected!  Jess, Leila, and Kael came, too, so it was quite the party!  With 2 toddlers and 2 infants, there was rarely a dull moment! 

They came Friday afternoon, and we spent some time hanging out at our house, letting them unwind from the drive, letting the girls play, and trying to decide on a place to go eat!  As usual, the girls had a pretty good time playing together, and were fairly good at sharing… as good as 2 two-year-olds can be! 

Josh got to give lots of horsey rides!  And check out the princess crown- an Easter present from Uncle Tim & Mally!

The girls, sharing a “snack tray.” 

The snack tray is something new I’ve started with Laney.  She’s always asking for candy or something to eat.  Instead of having to constantly be raiding the fridge for her, or saying no to candy requests (which never goes over well), when she asks for a snack, I make her a little plate of healthy snacks- carrots, cheese, pickles, animal crackers, etc.  Then she can work on those snacks for the evening, and isn’t constantly asking for more, or asking for candy!  It works pretty well, actually…

 

Leila and Laney both LOVE books, so they climbed up in Grandma’s lap to read several Princess books!

We went out to dinner Friday night to Chevy’s.  Josh and I joked on the way there that we were a waitress’ worst nightmare- 8 adults, 2 toddlers, and 2 infants.  But, really, it went pretty well.  With that many grown ups, there were lots of people to entertain the two girls, and the babies mostly just chilled, either being held by someone or in their seats!  And the food was delicious, so it was a lot of fun.  We even got to briefly see Stevie, who was passing through town on Friday night. 

Saturday we spent most of the day at Grandma Jo’s house, just hanging out.  Jeff & Connie came to visit, too, because they were camping in Arrow Rock, and decided to come meet Miss Audrey, too.  It was an absolutely beautiful day, so we decided to get out and enjoy the weather by taking the girls to the park.  Cosmo is so close, and has such awesome equipment, that it’s hard to not go!  I wasn’t feeling up to doing a lot of sliding, so Josh did the running, and I did the photographing!

My little girl… not so little anymore!

 

Love the static hair!

Just a cute pic… it’s becoming harder and harder to capture a real smile from her. 

Sometimes I wonder who the bigger kid is… he’s pretending to be Aquaman here (riding a seahorse… get it?).

Leila was hilarious on the slides.  Absolutely no fear, she just dove headfirst down them.  Obviously having a GREAT time!

Laney was a little hesitant about the spiral slide, but went with Daddy anyway.  And, for the record, that is not joy on Daddy’s face- apparently the slide was shocking him in a serious way! :)

Mal took care of chasing after Leila… pretty cute!

Kael and Audrey were there, too… but they didn’t do a lot of sliding!  Mostly just hung out in the shade with Jess & I! :)

Saturday night, after post-park naps, Grandma made a big dinner for us- fried chicken AND ham and all the fixin's'!  It was delicious!  It was kind of a late-Easter dinner, since our KFC fried chicken from last weekend wasn’t quite the same! :)  After dinner, we headed back outside- seriously loving this weather!  Grandma & Grandpa Looten bought Disney Princess balls for the two girls, and they had to try them out!

They even shared well… although they each had their own ball, and we ended up having to write their names on them just to keep them separate!  Amazing how much fun you can have with a simple ball!

Uncle Tim had to get in on the action!

Grandma & Kael came out to supervise! :)

Sometimes it’s dangerous playing catch with a two year old- they run at you and chuck the ball from about 6 inches away!  Kept Grandpa on his toes! :)

Sunday we went to church, back to Grandma’s for leftovers, and then home for NAPS!  It was a really fun weekend, and we had a good time just hanging out, introducing all of them to Audrey, and playing with all of the kids.  It’s definitely different, having all the kids now.  It’s funny to think that 3 years ago there were zero grandkids, and now there are 4! :)  Guess that’s how families go!  I get the feeling it is only going to get more interesting in the next few years!! :)